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Trump tries to keep lid on deposition video

Lawyers for Donald Trump have told a federal court in California that a videotaped deposition of the real estate mogul in a lawsuit about Trump University should not be made public, arguing the release of the video would create a ‘media frenzy.’

“The need to prevent such “sensationalism” is particularly acute here because of Mr. Trump’s unique circumstances in running for President of the United States,” Trump’s legal team argued earlier this week.

“Undoubtedly, these videos will also will be used by the media and others in connection with the presidential campaign,” Trump’s lawyers said.

Among the news media outlets looking to get their hands on the Trump deposition video are CNN, CBS, NBC, Fox News, the Washington Post, the New York Times and Tribune Publishing.

“The press has standing to assert the public’s – and its own – right of access to court records and proceedings,” the news media argued earlier this month in a submission to Judge Gonzalo Curiel.

“There is substantial public interest in this litigation given the subject matter of the case and Defendant’s status as the presumptive Republican presidential
nominee,” lawyers for news organizations said.

Trump’s lawyers argue the deposition is filled with material that is “irrelevant, inadmissible, and prejudicial.”

Judge Curiel – the same judge who has been personally accused by Trump of being biased because of his Mexican heritage – will hear arguments on whether or not to release the Trump video deposition on June 30.

On the subject of depositions, Trump was in Washington, D.C. on Thursday – not for a rally or a fundraiser, but instead to give a deposition in a lawsuit he filed against a famous chef.

Trump had signed up chef Geoffrey Zakarian to run a restaurant in his new Trump Hotel that is being built on Pennsylvania Avenue, not far from the White House.

But, the chef found some of Trump’s words on the campaign trail a bit much to swallow, so he decided not to go through with the plan.